Guarding the eco-security of the Arctic

The Ecology Year has come to an end, but the problems identified and the projects that have been initiated need to follow a given vector.

So, in the near future Russia plans to launch a series of environmental projects that are aimed at reconstructing the navy. Innovations are designed primarily to ensure the environmental safety of the Arctic.

For many years in the Arctic, serious scientific research has been continuing. To study the nature and ecology of this region in Russia, was again assembled the Arctic Oceanographic expedition, operating today in the Arctic Ocean waters. But in addition to it, hydrographic vessels are constantly sent to this territory. Only recently, scientists have discovered about 20 new geographical objects that have arisen because of the melting of glaciers, and they have already been put on maps.

Scientists have discovered about 20 new geographic objects in the Arctic, photo WEB

In the current year, the Arctic zone is completely determined by the priority of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation activities and, in particular, in the sphere of environmental protection. Some programs on eco-security will be fundamentally new, having no analogues in the world, others have been launched earlier and are still being implemented today. For example, for 3 years on the island of Kotelny special eco-platoon collects and presses scrap metal for further utilization. Over this period more than 2.5 thousand tons of metal were exported from here! And this is not the only program to cleanse the region of thuman activities traces.

Eco-platoon on the island of Kotelny collects and presses scrap metal for further utilization, photo © press Service of NF

Regarding the maintenance of ecological balance in the Arctic, special attention is paid to the program of the Russian fleet transition to a new type of fuel. The vessels of the Navy will gradually have to start using liquefied natural gas and in this direction real steps have already been taken. The first icebreaker with a similar fuel system was already built by the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) in Finland and was named "Polaris".

Arctic Shamrock - military base of the Russian Federation, photo WEB

By the way, one of the USC enterprises is the "Admiralty Shipyards", which recently approved a project for the construction of a special research vessel. It will be an ice-resistant self-propelled platform, a sort of floating observatory, the working name is the "North Pole". The main task of such marine station will be to study the nature and ecology of the Arctic, preserve its natural integrity, as well as support of certain Navy tasks. The customer of this science miracle and technology was Roshydromet, and more than 6.5 billion rubles have been allocated for its construction, which will begin this year. In its first voyage, the ship should be out by the end of 2020.

And in 2021 Russia plans to start construction, not a lot, not a little, but a whole special nature protection fleet. For these needs, an impressive ten-figure sum has already been laid in the project of socio-ecological development of the Arctic. Costs promise not to be wasted, because such a fleet will reduce environmental risks for this region, as well as increase the safety and effectiveness of human activities in these waters.

In 2017, ships of the Northern Fleet traveled about 6,000 nautical miles, photo © press Service of NF

The Arctic is a unique natural complex and the most important strategic region, whose concern lies on the shoulders of the state. The study of biological diversity, the collection and analysis of hydrogeological data, the purification of water and shores from debris, environmental protection ... Scientists and the military still have many tasks, but the first steps in the right direction have already been made.

Victoria Romanova, Russia, Moscow

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